Overhead garage door



Feb. 27, 1951 R, E, THOMPSON 2,543,261

OVERHEAD GARAGE DOOR Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

Feb- 27 1951 R. E. THOMPSON OVERHEAD GARAGE DooR 2 Sheets--Sheerl 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1947 JNVENTOR. Hueffora" E. 75mm/0500 ,Qf/s

Patented Feb. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OVERHEAD GARAGE DOOR Rutherford E. Thompson, Casco, Wis.

Application January 8, 1947, Serial No. 720,821

(Cl. .20-J9) 6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to overhead garage doors.

The door of the present invention consists of a single panel movable from vertical closed position to horizontal overhead open position.

An object of the invention is the provision of such a door which, although formed as a single panel, does not project outwardly beyond the doorway in its opening and closing movements.

The door is supported by a pair of lever arms which are pivoted to the door frame, and to the door panel intermediate the top and bottom of the door. The pivot points of the lever arms with the door panel act as iioating pivots to carry the door in its movement in such a manner that no portion of the door panel projects outwardly beyond the door frame.

An object of the invention is the provision of an overhead garage door which is well balanced, and easy for the operator to open and close.

The door is mounted so that its weight is well balanced. Means is provided for urging the door to open position, which acts against the weight of the door in such a manner as to enable the operator to open and close the door easily.

Specifically, the means for opening and closing the door consists in a counter-balancing spring operating through a linkage and so inter-connected therewith that when the energy in the spring is the greatest, the mechanical advantage of the linkage is the least, and conversely, when the energy in the spring is the least, the mechanical advantage in the linkage is the greatest.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a garage door which is formed of a single panel, and despite the fact that it is of a single panel it can be raised to overhead open position without the aid of vertical or curved tracks. The tracks on which the door is supported are overhead straight horizontal tracks.

A further object of the invention is theprovision of an arrangement of lever arms and 1inkage, referred to above, by which the door panel assumes a semi-locked condition in both its open and closed positions. Said'locked condition is such that the door is prevented from being blown by the wind, but an operator can overcome the condition by only a little more than ordinary exertion.

Still another object is the provision of means for preventing sidewise shifting of the door panel when in closed position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a garage door, movable from closed position to overhead open position, in which no headroom is required for its operation.

A further object is the provision of such a garage door which when open is entirely inside of the building.

A still further object is the minimizing of noise in the operation of the door.

A still further object is the elimination of binding of the door panel on the sides of the doorway. This feature is made possible by the fact that the door panel and door frame are provided with a special arrangement of weather strips whereby clearance may be provided between the door panel and door frame, and the weather strips are so arranged that they retain the door in proper position when closed and do not interfere with the operation of the door.

An additional object of the invention is the special interrelation between the counterbalancing spring and linkage mentioned above whereby when the door is closed, the tension of the spring is exerted through the linkage against the door frame and not against the door panel.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of the door and door frame from inside the garage; n

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Figure l, showing the door in closed position in full lines, and in a partially open position in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a semi-diagrammatic view, on a reduced scale, similar to Figure 2, and with the door in fully opened position;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the area enclosed in the dotdash line in the upper lefthand corner of Figure l;

Figure 5 isa view from the top of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1;

Figureis an enlarged sectional View taken on line 'l-'l of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view takenr on line 8--8 of Figure 1;

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 9--9 of Figure 3;

Figure 10 is an enlarged view taken on line lil-I0 of Figure 3;

Figure 11' is a View taken on line ll-H of Figure 10 but showing the linkage arms extended rather than in the collapsed position shown in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified linkage means for operating the door; and

Figure 13 is a semi-diagrammatic view on a reduced scale of the modication illustrated in Figure 12, showing vthe door in open position.Y

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a door panel l2 is shown in a, .doorway formed in a door frame I4, comprising side jambs I6 and an overhead jamb IS'. The door frame is shown isolated from the structure of the building on which it is used, for the sake of clarity.

The reference numeral 2B indicates the floor of the building upon which the door frame is supported and with which the door panel comes into proximity when closed.

By referring to Figure 2 it will be noted that when the door panel I2 is in closed position it is disposed toward the inner side of the door frame. Across the overhead jamb I8 is a weather strip 22 so positioned that the edge of the door panel bears outwardly against the strip, when closed.

Secured to the door frame on each side and at the top is an angle bracket 24 (Figures 4 and Pivoted to each angle bracket 24 is a link or lever arm 25, the other end of which is pivoted at 28 to a bracket 3S secured to the door panel. The brackets 30 extend inwardly of the door panel and are positioned substantially midway vertically thereof.

A toggle linkage is indicated generally at 32, one such toggle linkage is provided on each side of the door, and each comprises two arms, 34 and 36. Arm 34 is pivoted at 38 to the respective lever 26 intermediate the ends of the latter, and the arm 35 is pivoted at 40 to a bracket 42, secured to the respective vertical jamb i6. The extended ends of the arms 34 and 3S are pvoted together at 44 thereby forming a toggle link. The bracket 42 is channel shaped (Figure 9), so that the arm 36 will t therein when the door is closed, and the bracket 42 possesses considerable depth (Figures 2 and 3), to furnish substantial bearing surface for the arm 36 and prevent sidewise shifting of the door panel.

The toggle link arms 34 and 36 are U shaped in cross-section, one tting inside the other. The outer arm 34 extends beyond the pivotal point 44 forming an extension 45 (Figure 11), and threaded in the web of the extension 4S is an adjusting screw 48 adapted to bear against the web of the arm 3S for limiting the pivoting movement between the arms.

One of the brackets 35 on the door panel to which the levers 26 are pivoted, is shown in detail in Figure 6, whereby it will be seen that it is roughly Z-shaped, having a flange 50 disposed laterally outwardly beyond the edge of the door panel and to which the lever 26 is pivotally connected. It will be seen therefore that the levers 26 are disposed laterally beyond the edges of the door panel I2.

Secured to the inwardly extending leg of each angle bracket 24 (Figures 4 and 5) is one end of a track 52. The track 52 is channel-shaped, as may be observed in Figure 4.

A11 angle bracket 54 is secured to each upper corner of the door panel I2. Rotatably mounted in each angle bracket 54 is a roller 56 secured to a shaft 58.

The shaft 58 extends outwardly beyond the door panel and the roller is thereby positioned in the channel track 52, as clearly illustrated in Figure 4.

The tracks 52 are straight and extend substantially horizontally inwardly from the doorway, being slightly inclined upwardly and inwardly. The inner ends of the track 52 are mounted on supports S0, supported by the building structure.

Mounted on each angle bracket 24 on the door frame is a V pulley 62. A flexible cable or rope 64 is secured to each toggle linkage 32 at theY 4 pivot point 44 thereof, and is threaded through the pulley 62. rEhe opposite end of the cable S4 is secured to a tension spring 6G. The springs 66 in turn are positioned above the tracks 52 and secured to the supports 63.

Weather strips 68 are positioned at the lower portion of the doorway and cover the meeting edges of the door panel and the door frame. These weather strips 68 are secured to the vertical jambs I6 of the door frame. This relationship is shown in enlarged detail in Figure 8.

Extending upwardly from the upper ends of the weather strips 68 are additional weather strips l0 positioned also over the meeting edges of the door panel and vertical jambs, but in this instance the weather strips Il are secured to the door panel as clearly illustrated in enlarged detail in Figure 7. The weather strips and T0 may be of any convenient material for eiectively sealing the meeting edges of the door panel and the vertical jambs.

Reference to Figures '7 and 8 show that there is a space between the door panel and the vertical jambs, by virtue of which any binding between the door panel and the jambs is eliminated.

The brackets 30 may be placed over the weather strips l0, as illustrated in Figure 6, in which case a ller may be inserted for providing a surface flush with the surface of the weather strips, or the brackets 39 may be placed inwardly of the respective weather strips.

There is also a space between the upper edge of the door panel I2 and the overhead jamb I8, as illustrated in Figure 4. ln this instance, however, sealing of the upper edge of the doorway is effected by engagement of the outer edge of the door panel with the weather strip 22 secured across the overhead jamb I8.

A modified form of linkage means for operating the door panel is shown in Figures l2 and 13. Similar elements in the modied form are given the same reference numerals as in the previous form, and the construction, except as described in detail hereinafter, is the same as in the previous form.

Instead of the toggle linkage 32 employed in the rst form, a single arm I2 is employed. Each link 'I2 is pivoted at 'I4 to the respective lever 25 between the ends of the latter, and in a position similar to the previous form. Mounted in the extended end of each arm 'I2 is a roller 'IS adapted to bear against and roll on a wear strip 'I8 secured to the door frame on the respective side thereof. The cable or rope 64 is secured to the extended end of the arm 'I2 and is threaded through the pulley 62 similarly to the previous form.

Operation When the door is closed, as illustrated in Figure 2, the levers 26 are substantially in vertical position, and the toggle linkages 32 are collapsed, and the latter also extend substantially vertically. At this point also, the tension spring B is extended and the greatest energy is accordingly stored up therein. The spring in this position exerts its greatest force on the linkage 32, but due to the collapsed position of the linkage, the mechanical advantage thereof is the least. The door therefore rests in equilibrium.

When it is desired to open the door the upper end is pushed inwardly by the operator and the rollers 5S rolled along the tracks 52. As the upper end of the door moves inwardly, the links 26 swing inwardly also and the door panel thereby is supported by the tracks 52 and the levers 26. As

the levers 26 swing inwardly the toggle links 32 accordingly are extended until the door is in fully open position as illustrated in Figure 3. As the door progressively moves from closed to open positions, the springs 56 contract, losing some of their energy, and the toggle links 32 are progressively extended. The leverage which can be applied thereto becomes greater and accordingly the mechanical advantage thereof becomes greater also. Therefore, it will be seen that when the greatest energy is sto-red in the tension springs 66 the mechanical advantage of the toggle links 32 is least, and vice versa. At no point will the door move by itself either toward open or closed positions, but at any point the door will remain in equilibrium.

The position of the brackets Sil on the door panel is substantially midway vertically thereof, although it might be varied slightly to compensate for minor variations in weight, such as hardware on the door. For that reason the door panel is nearly perfectly balanced and can be raised and lowered with a minimum of exertion.

'Io limit the extent to which the door will open, the toggle linkages 32 can be adjusted for limiting the point to which they can be extended. As illustrated in Figure 1l, by threading the adjusting screw i8 inwardly or outwardly, such a point can be controlled. It is of course desirable that the toggle linkages 32 do not go to or above dead center, whereby ii such an event should occur the door would be locked in open position and it would be necessary for the operator to manually break the toggle links.

However, it is desirable that the linkages 32 produce a semi-locked condition. The arms 34 and 36 approach a point near dead center and become partially locked so that wind will not catch the door panel and carry it from its open position. The lever arms 34 and 36 are so constructed and arranged that the operator has great advantage in overcoming the resistance of the semi-locked condition of the arms, and of the springs 66, so that when the operator desires to close the door, he merely exerts a little more than usual force, breaking the toggle linkages.

The dotted line Se adjacent the toggle linkage 32 in Figure 3, indicates the dead center position of the toggle linkage when the door is open. When it is desired to close the door the operator grips the outer or lower edge and pulls down on it and this movement collapses the toggle links.

lhen the door is in closed position (see Figure 2) the lever arm 2t is angled slightly inwardly downwardly, due to the inwardly spaced pivot point 28 with the door panel, and the linkage 32 is collapsed between the lever 26 and the door frame. The tension of the spring E6, acting through the cable 64, exerts a force on the arm 36 in such a direction to bias the arm against the door frame. Here too a locked condition results,

preventing wind from catching the door and mov-V ing it toward open position. When the operator ishes to open the door, he merely pushes in at the upper part, which throws the arm 34 away from the door frame and obviates the locked condition.

An important advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the lower edge of the door at no time in its opening or closing movements extends outwardly of the doorway.` The dotted line position of the door panel as shown in Figure 2 indicates that it is substantially at the outer edge of .the doorway, and in no case does it swing out therebeyond.

The lever arms 26 provide oating pivots for the door panel, swinging the panel inwardly, by reason of which the bottom edge of the door is kept within the connes of the doorway and will not project outwardly therebeyond. The length of the lever arms 2S and the downward extent on the door panel to which they reach, determines the line in the doorway which the lower edge of the door panel follows in its movements.

In view of the foregoing the operation of the form of door illustrated in Figures 12 and 13 is believed to be obvious. The springs 66 act through the extended ends of the arms 12, biasing the arms upwardly and the result is that arms 'l2 swing toward horizontal position. In both forms the toggle links 32 and the arms l2 are extended horizontally resulting in swinging the levers 26 inwardly, of the doorway.

An important advantage of the invention results from utilizing the lever arms 2S. The door panel can be moved to open and closed positions without the necessity of head room, and without cutting off appreciable space from the interior of the garage.

Another important advantage of the invention is now obvious and that is that all vertical or curved tracks are eliminated, and the device employs only straight tracks extending horizontally from the upper edge of the doorway. It will also be observed that no head room is required. The appliances and accessories do not extend above the doorway and the door itself does not swing above the doorway in its movement from one position to the other.

It is also unusual that an overhead garage door can be made of a single panel and have the advantages set forth hereinabove. It has usually been necessary to make such an overhead door of hinged sections, so that each of the sections could pass from close to open position individually.

Noise is substantially eliminated in the present arrangement, due to the fact that the door is made up of a single panel and there are only two bearing points on the tracks, which reduces noise to a minimum. The other accessories of the door are virtually noiseless.

There is no binding between the door .panell and the door jamb as is often the case with many forms of doors. There is suiiicient space between the door panel and door frame as explained hereinabove and the weather strips 53 and l@ effectively seal these spaces. The lower weather strips 68 prevent the lower edge of the door from swinging inwardly, and the strips l' prevent the lower edge of the door from swinging outwardly. As

the door moves from one position to another, the strips li) are carried with the door `panel and the strips 68 of course remain in place on the door frame. The door panel passes over the strips 68 when moved from one position to another.

While I have herein shown and described apreferred embodiment of my invention, manifestly it is susceptible of modification and rearrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. I do not, therefore, wish to be understood as limiting my invention to the precise form herein disclosed, except as I may be so limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door comprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, a linkage comprising an arm having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and a movable member pivotally connected to the other arm end and interposed between said arm and said door frame, and a spring connected to said linkage for urging said arm upwardly.

2. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door comprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, and an extensible toggle linkage having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and the other end pivoted to said door frame, said linkage comprising a pair of arms pivoted together, and said actuating means further comprising a spring connected to said linkage for urging said I linkage to extended position by raising the arm pivoted to said lever.

3. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door comprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, and a linkage comprising an arm having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and a roller movably interposed between said arm and said door frame, said arm having its other end pivotally connected to said roller, said actuating means further comprising a spring connected to said linkage for urging said arm upwardly.

4. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door coniprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, and an extensible toggle linkage having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and the other end pivoted to said door frame, said linkage comprising a pair of arms pivoted together, one arm having a portion extending beyond its pivot point with the other arm and overlying the other arm, adjustable stop means mounted in said overlying arm portion and engaging the other arm for adjustably limiting the extension of the toggle linkage at a point before alignment of said arms is reached, said actuating means further comprising a spring connected to said linkage for urging said linkage to extended position by raising the arm pivoted to said lever.

5. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door comprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, and an extensible toggle linkage having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and the other end pivoted to said door frame, said linkage comprising a pair of arms pivoted together, and said actuating means further comprising a pulley secured to the door frame adjacent the top thereof, a flexible cable having one end secured to said linkage between the ends thereof and threaded over said pulley, and horizontally disposed spring means secured between the other end of said cable and said building and effective to urge said linkage to extended position by raising the arm pivoted to said lever.

6. An overhead door for use in a building having a door frame and a doorway, said door coinprising a door panel for closing said doorway and means for actuating said door panel comprising, on each side of said doorway, a straight overhead track extending inwardly from the doorway, roller means at the top of said door panel engaging and movable along said track, a lever having one end pivoted to the door frame adjacent the top of the doorway and its other end pivoted to the door panel at a point between the upper and lower ends of said door panel, and an extensible toggle linkage having one end pivoted to said lever between the ends thereof and the other end pivoted to said door frame, said linkage comprising a pair of arms pivoted together and when collapsed extending along said door panel, said actuating means further comprising a spring connected to said linkage for urging said linkage to extended position by raising the arm pivoted to said lever and a member attached to said door panel operative to prevent lateral displacement of said linkage when collapsed.

RUTHERFORD E. THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,288,529 De Does Dec. 24, 1918 1,345,261 Sellek June 29, 1920 2,220,766 Hubbs Nov. 5, 1940 2,314,634 Robinson Mar. 23, 1943 2,426,052 Rix Aug. 19, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,442 Holland of 1937 

